CANNES, France—Associated Press journalists open their notebooks at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival:

YOUNG STARS SUAREZ, IRVINE GET HONORED FOR PROMISE:

The Cannes Film Festival is all about old-school charm and glamour, but it knows the importance of nurturing its younger talent.

So on Thursday night, Chopard, in conjunction with the festival, gave trophies to two new talents: actress Blanca Suarez and actor Jeremy Irvine. Suarez is perhaps best known for the Pedro Almodovar film "The Skin I Live In," while Irvine got his start in the Oscar-nominated film "War Horse." The two were chosen by a committee that included film producer Harvey Weinstein.

Colin Firth, who is co-starring with Irvine in the upcoming film "The Railway Man," gave both their awards.

Actor Leonardo DiCaprio arrives for the opening ceremony and the screening of The Great Gatsby at the 66th international film festival, in Cannes, southern France, Wednesday, May 15, 2013. ((AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau))

Suarez admitted that she was "a bit nervous."

"I couldn't even think that two years ago when Pedro Almodovor brought me here that today I was going to be here, having this wonderful trophy from the hands of one of my reverent actors," Suarez said.

For Irvine, it was his first time in Cannes. He recalled how far he had come in the past few years.

"I've got my British agent backstage and he signed me when I was in a theater show with no lines, and I was literally playing a tree," he said. "It's been a crazy few years but I've just had the most fantastic time."

It was a beach party theme, but the wet, cold weather kept the stars hovering inside at the euphoria Calvin Klein party.

The annual event, put on with the Independent Filmmaker Project, celebrates women in film. On Thursday night, it was actresses Nicole Kidman, Carey Mulligan, Naomie Harris, Rooney Mara and director Lynne Ramsay being feted at a soiree on the famous Riviera.

While there were firepits and seating on the beach, the women—all decked out in Calvin Klein outfits—and the rest of the guests huddled up inside the event.

For Kidman, it was a break from her duties as a juror for the Cannes Film Festival—a task she has been enjoying.

"It is such a celebration of film," she said. "I have been coming here now for decades so I have seen it grow and change."

Her jury duties have also allowed her to dress a bit more casually than she did on Thursday night: "When you are on the jury, you can wear jeans and T-shirts and then you come out at night and get to put on a nice dress."

"Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon" is getting a sequel more than a decade after becoming the highest grossing foreign-language film in the U.S.

The Weinstein Company has announced that "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon II: The Green Destiny" will begin production in March in Asia. Taking over for director Ang Lee is Yuen Wo Ping, the martial arts coordinator of "Kill Bill, Vol. 2" and "Kung Fu Hustle."

In 2000, "Crouching Tiger" won four Academy Awards, including best cinematography and best foreign-language film. It made $128 million in the U.S. for Sony Pictures, well beyond any previous foreign-language film. It made $213.5 million worldwide.

The sequel will star Donnie Yen and Michelle Yeoh, a holdover from Lee's film.

Leonardo DiCaprio was just 21 when his first film with Baz Luhrman, "Romeo and Juliet," came out 17 years ago. After reuniting with the director for "The Great Gatsby," DiCaprio found that not much has changed.

"The thing about working with Baz is that he always makes you feel like you're working on something incredibly special. He has such an incredible exuberance and an excitement about taking on really beloved, classic literature, like he did with 'Romeo and Juliet' and now what he has done with 'The Great Gatsby,'" he said in an interview on Thursday.

"He is vigilant about getting the cinematic adaptation of that drama on screen and we are really like detectives. We go in there and we comb through each and every line, each and every bit of symbolism and try our best to dramatize that."

Still, DiCaprio sees growth in both the director and himself since their first pairing.

"We have both matured in a number of ways. We have known each other for over 20 years and hopefully we have a couple more tricks up our sleeves," he said. "We are still at our core the same types of people that we were when we first met."

"The Great Gatsby" opened the Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday night.

It wouldn't be a trip to Cannes without a red-carpet appearance or two. Freida Pinto made her grand entrance before the cameras on Wednesday when she attended Cannes Film Festival's opening night premiere, "The Great Gatsby."

Pinto wowed in a coral halter dress by Gucci. Before the big event, the "Slumdog Millionaire" actress said she tries to come up with her look for the event organically.

"I speak to my stylist and I say, 'This year I want to try color and this silhouette. I have done the other ones in the past and I want to try something different,'" she said.

"Or I want to go for something that is really super easy and elegant and I don't want the whole corset thing happening, I want to breathe."

Pinto came to Cannes as part of a team of L'Oreal spokeswomen, including Julianne Moore and Eva Longoria. Pinto says she's honored to be included among some of the famous actresses who have repped the brand, including Jane Fonda.

"She is my all-time favorite—you can never really tell how old she is because she just carries herself with so much poise and there is youthfulness about her," Pinto said.